Kbely Aviation Museum

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Letecké muzeum Kbely
(Kbely Aviation Museum)
Entrance area of ​​the museum
Entrance area of ​​the Letecké muzeum Kbely (2011)
Data
place Prague- Kbely , Czech Republic
Art
Aviation Museum
opening 1968
management
Website
[1] (czech)

The Aviation Museum Kbely (Czech: Letecké muzeum Kbely ) is a museum in the northeastern administrative district 19 Kbely of the Czech capital Prague , about eight kilometers from the city center on Mladoboleslavská Ulice. The museum is operated by the Military History Institute of the Czech Armed Forces and is located on the premises of the Prague-Kbely military airfield . It shows a cross-section through the flight history of the earlier (until 1993) Czechoslovak and today's (since 1993) Czech air forces since 1918. The Kbely Aviation Museum is one of the largest aircraft museums in Europe with its holdings of almost 300 aircraft, around half of which are open to the public .

history

Kbely was already a military airfield at the beginning of the 20th century , which was used for occasional flight demonstrations after the First World War . In October 1923 the first scheduled flight from here to Bratislava was started by the then newly founded CSA Czechoslovak Airlines (today's name: Czech Airlines , Czech: ČSA České aerolinie ). Currently the airport is mainly used by the Czech military for flight tests.

The first large, still improvised aircraft exhibition was organized here in 1967. In 1968 the Aviation Museum was officially founded on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Czechoslovak aviation industry. The museum was gradually expanded over the following years from one to five halls and several large open spaces.

Building the museum

Overview table (2011)
Hall with exhibits between 1918 and 1924
Hall with exhibits from the Second World War
Hall with exhibits between 1945 and 1990
Open space with planes and helicopters
Open space with jet planes
Open space with jet planes
Tu-104 A next to a CAC-27 Saber in the open space
Example of an information board (MiG-23)

Almost 300 aircraft are brought together in five lavishly designed hangars and on several open spaces as well as in various magazines. The permanent exhibition includes over 100 models in the halls, over two dozen in open spaces and around a dozen still airworthy aircraft in the area of ​​the airfield. Around half of the aircraft, in very different conditions, are currently housed in storage areas that are not directly accessible.

Thematically, the visitors are guided through the history of military Czechoslovak and Czech aviation since 1918:

Halls

  • Hall of the Czechoslovak Air Force 1918–1924
  • Hall of the Czechoslovak Air Force 1925–1938
  • Hall Second World War with a special exhibition of pilot uniforms
  • Hall first jet aircraft
  • Hall of the Czechoslovak Air Force 1945–1990

Open spaces

  • Open space helicopter
  • Open space fighter aircraft with jet engines
  • Open space transporters and other aircraft since 1945

Aircraft on display

The collection contains various types of military aircraft , propeller planes as well as single or twin- engine types and helicopters . Particular emphasis is placed on the representation of the Czechoslovak models since the first developments at the beginning of the 20th century, including exhibits of the Czechoslovak (now Czech) types Aero and Avia . Also American , Soviet (now Russian or Ukrainian ), Swedish and aircraft of other nations are ordered chronologically issued.

Planes

You can see these types of aircraft, among others:

helicopter

For example, the history of military helicopters is represented by these models:

Rarities

An Avia S-92 in the Kbely Aviation Museum

A number of rarities that no longer exist in any other museum can be seen, including:

The aircraft exhibition is complemented by a large number of other exhibits, for example the UAV system WR-3 Rejs (the Czechoslovak version of the Tupolev M-143 ), ejection seats , engines , small models, an extensive history of flight suits and uniforms, a radar system and various other dioramas . In addition, the landing capsule of the Soyuz 28 spaceship is located here , with which a Czech, Vladimír Remek , flew into space for the first time in 1978 .

All exhibits are explained in detail in Czech and English.

Entry is free. The museum can be reached by public transport from the Letňany station of Metro C by bus (as of June 2016).

See also

Web links

Commons : Kbely Aviation Museum  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bob Ogden: Aviation Museums and Collections of Mainland Europe , Air Britain (Historians) Ltd, 2006, ISBN 0-85130-375-7
  2. ↑ : Heinz A. F. Schmidt: The aviation collection Prague – Kbely - a treasure for aviation history. In: Flieger-Jahrbuch 1971. Transpress, Berlin 1970, p. 140
  3. ↑ Information from the museum's official Czech-English information flyer, as of 2011
  4. ↑ Official information from the museum (as of August 2011)
  5. ↑ Information from the museum, s. Image of the overview board

Coordinates: 50 ° 7 ′ 32 ″  N , 14 ° 32 ′ 7 ″  E